


Mirror Mirror

by Iguessnotthendearie



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Rumbelle Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 06:44:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5487578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iguessnotthendearie/pseuds/Iguessnotthendearie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rumbelle Secret Santa gift for doodlinglina on tumblr, with the prompt: Belle trapped in a mirror</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mirror Mirror

One might think that constantly cleaning the Dark Castle could be tedious, but Belle did not feel that way. It had been four months since Rumplestiltskin had made a deal with her to save her town from the ogres. At first, the days felt long and the nights dragged by; sleep was illusive, and her time spent in the dungeon consisted of her lying across the stiff cot, her body racked with sobs, until Rumplestilstkin had finally had enough and showed up with a pillow, along with a warning. Even though some may have feared him, especially after hearing his dark humor and witnessing his brooding bouts that seemed to come and go at times. But Belle saw something much different when she considered the Dark One. After her initial surprise, during which she had dropped a teacup, she quite enjoyed his rather different sense of humor, dark though it may be. She also didn’t take much of his warnings and yelling to heart; soon after he would be calm once again, and Belle knew that someone as lonely as he seemed to be must go a bit insane, with only their thoughts to comfort them. And from what she could find out about her master, these thoughts were not good ones. It pained Belle to see the evidence of Rumplestiltskin’s regret, although she could not be sure quite what all he regretted. She assumed that being the Dark One had caused him to do horrific deeds, and even a man such as himself must have a conscience. He never slept, that is, from what she could tell. She could always hear the spinning of his wheel from her bedroom in the library, and when she didn’t hear it she knew that he was out making a deal somewhere; when he was gone, the castle suddenly felt extremely empty, and Belle was reminded of the feeling that she had when her mother had first died. Nothing had felt right, and she always expected her to just show up and come back into her life again like nothing had ever happened. 

But soon after her nights in the dungeon, a thief had snuck into the castle, and Rumple spared him from death. That’s when Belle saw that the good that she thought had to be there surely was, but was just buried deep inside a broken man. She no longer slept in the dungeon, and had free reign of most of the castle (although she preferred the library he gave her over any other room or corridor).

Now, as she silently dusted the Great Hall, Belle thought back on these events and reflected on how much the mysterious spinner had opened up to her, even admitting that he had a son. Working by the light of the recently removed curtains, she opened up a thick glass case to begin dusting the shelves inside. It was one of the many shelves that contained Rumplestiltskin’s treasures over years of making deals, although this shelf had far less objects than the rest, perhaps because the Dark One had saved the space to use for the magical items he would acquire in the future. Belle loved to look at these treasures, and although she was careful not to touch, she would often gaze at them and try to figure out what they did. If she was truly intrigued by an object she would ask Rumplestiltskin later, and, admiring her curiosity, he would often tell the tale of how he collected the item. Being that Belle couldn’t leave the castle, these tales were often the closest that she got to going out to travel the world. 

As usual, Belle focused on the various items on the shelves as she lazily dusted with one hand. Most just looked like ordinary items, a spoon, a large hammer, an ordinary stone; other times the objects looked very unfamiliar, and usually dangerous. Belle jumped a bit as her eyes suddenly wandered upon what looked to be the shrunken head of a bridge troll. Near the end of the bottom shelf, though, was an object that Belle never expected to find in the castle: it was a simple hand mirror.

Belle hadn’t understood why at first, but mirrors had always been forbidden in the Dark Castle, and the few that were there were covered up with large drapes. She was now sure that it was because Rumplestiltskin didn’t wish to see himself, even in passing. It upset her greatly to think that he saw himself as ugly, when she rather liked the way his hair fell down to his shoulders, and the dramatic gold of his skin. Though slightly off-putting at first, Belle saw no reason for her master to despise the way he looked, as he seemed to. 

Now, Belle had never been a vain person, always having been drawn to her books as opposed to talking with the girls her age about clothes and brilliant necklaces and crowns covered with gems. But it was not often that a girl had to go over four months without looking in a single mirror. Belle could only imagined how she looked. It was much easier to just tied back her hair with one of the many ribbons Rumplestiltskin had given her than leaving it framing her face and blocking her view while trying to do her daily tasks around the castle. She didn’t bother with makeup; her handmaids back in Avonlea had insisted she wear it every day, but she never understood why it was necessary. The blue working dress Rumplestiltskin had given her fit perfectly, but trying to tie the ribbon in the back was hard task without anything to use to see where the loopholes were, and where the ribbon had to be tied. And she had always respected her master’s wishes and never even attempted to peek at any of the mirrors…but… what could it hurt just this once? The mirror was facing up as it was, and if she just took a quick glance…

Before she could think any more about it, Belle had the mirror in her hand. Looking down at it, she only saw her reflection for a spilt second; a quick flash of blue eyes and suddenly she felt as though she was flipping upside down. Before she could even yell in surprise, she was looking up at the tall ceiling of the Great Hall. She tried to move her arms or legs, but realized that she couldn’t move anything besides her head, which she could only turn a bit to the left and right. It didn’t take her long to realize what had happened. She was trapped in the hand mirror, which was now lying face up on the ground.

Despite her frustration with herself for getting into this situation, she knew that there was nothing she could do but call for Rumple to come and help her. Not sure where he had gone to in the castle since she had had tea with him at breakfast, Belle took a deep breath and yelled, “Rumple!” as loud as she could, hoping the spinner was nearby. 

Just as she was about to take another breath to yell again, a puff of purple smoke appeared on the edge of the mirror. She attempted to lean forward to see where he had appeared, but she was within the confines of the mirror, and could only see whatever was right in front of it. Oh, how she wished to get out already! 

Rumplestiltskin’s face suddenly appeared in front of the mirror, and he grabbed for the handle to pick it up. Although he was obviously handling the mirror with great care, Belle still felt slightly nauseous as the mirror was held in front of his face. Rumplestiltskin’s face showed a range of emotions within the next couple seconds, going from confusion, to concern, and finally, to amusement. He let out a little chuckle but still held the mirror perfectly still. “Well, well, well. What have we here? Did my little maid get a bit too curios with the master’s toys?”

Why, if Belle’s body was attached to her at that moment she surely would have placed her hands on her hips. Glaring at him, she snippily replied, “It’s not my fault you have all of this stuff just lying around, without a lock or a warning or anything.”

“I shouldn’t have to, dearie,” Rumplestiltskin waved his free hand in the air dramatically, “one could only become trapped in the mirror if they attempt to use it as a mirror. You were trying to look at your reflection. That’s what this mirror does, it traps unfortunate strangers inside, and unless they are lucky enough to be found by a powerful sorcerer such as myself, they will eventually die within the mirror.

“Can I please get out then? I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a magical mirror, I just never understood why I couldn’t look in any of them in the castle…” Belle was now looking at him pleadingly. 

“Magical mirrors are quite common, dearie, you just need to know where to find them. This particular mirror came from Agrabah, a place far from here. These are prevalent there if you know where to look. There are also magical mirrors in other realms. There’s a certain one I’d like to get my hands on, it shows one’s greatest desire… an excellent tool in ensnaring an enemy in his own desires and selfishness.” Rumplestiltskin had been looking out beyond the mirror at what seemed to be the stone wall. “Of course, the headmaster would never let me get my hands on it…” As he trailed off, Belle cleared her throat in an attempt to bring him back into focus.

Rumplestiltskin glanced back at the head in the mirror. He seemed to be contemplating something, and he suddenly turned on his heel and began walking towards the entrance of the Great Hall before he allowed a puff of purple smoke envelope him, and the next thing that Belle could see was his face, and in the background there was a number of different shaped beakers, and on the edge of the mirror what she could only assume was part of a spinning wheel. Belle guessed that this was his workspace; she had never been allowed to be in here, even to clean. Looking at it now, she realized that this probably for her own safety. There seemed to be slight haze in the room, and she could hear a cauldron bubbling. Rumplestiltskin snapped his fingers, and the bubbling stopped. She assumed that he had emptied the contents, perhaps to start a new potion. Instead, Rumplestiltskin rested the mirror on something sitting on the table, and got to work spinning straw. From the way that the mirror was now facing, Belle could see him as he spun slowly, concentrating on the way wheel spun and the spokes flashed by.

She glared at him. What was he doing? Was he simply taunting her predicament, using this as a way to punish her for touching his things? “Wh-what are you doing?” she stammered. He ignored her and kept spinning.

Now Rumplestiltskin would never admit it, but he wouldn’t mind if his little maid stayed in the mirror for a while- he often would have to work up in his laboratory or go out travelling for deals for several days before he could see her again. But like this… like this he could keep her with him everywhere he went. And she could see all the wonderful places he got to go; although the many realms now seemed bland and ordinary to him after hundreds of years, didn’t mean she wouldn’t find them extraordinary and wonderful. If he could take her with him all the time he would, but not only was it dangerous, but he couldn’t trust her not to leave. Although she no longer visibly showed her contempt for being at the castle, he knew she couldn’t possibly enjoy being there. Not only was she away from her family, but who would want to even be a maid to a monster like him? There was one simple fact that Rumplestiltskin even had a hard time admitting to himself: He was hopelessly in love with Belle. He loved everything about her, and he never wanted to let her go… but with each day that went by, he could feel his resolve waning. Even being the beast that he was, he couldn’t stand for Belle not to be happy. He knew that one day he would have to let her go, and he felt that day nearing. Being greedy had never helped him to keep those that he loved in his life, including the person that he loved the most: his son.

At the moment he was being selfish, he knew he should probably bring her out of the mirror soon. He focused on his wheel, ignoring her questions and avoiding glancing back to see her pleading, beautiful sky-blue eyes. Eventually, though, after she gave a particularly loud shout, he turned around to face her, remaining on his stool. 

“Patience is key, dearie, and trust me, you’re not going anywhere even if you wanted to! If this castle wasn’t such a complete mess, I would even consider keeping you in there forever!” the imp giggled as she rolled her eyes.

“No, you would not. I know you wouldn’t. Now, please just let me out of here. I understand now to never touch your things again, trust me.”

“I hope so, otherwise the next thing you touch may just convince me to turn you into, shall we say, a toad?” Rumplestiltskin stood up from his stool to wander over to his cabinet full of potions and ingredients, pulling a number of vials out and spreading them across his worktable. Belle watched his face screw up in concentration, as if he was thinking, but the action of pouring different amounts into the once again bubbling cauldron seemed as easy to him as walking. He barely looked at the labels as he measured them out and poured more in. Belle caught the labels of a few, including dragons’ blood and rose dust. After he appeared to have finished, he finally picked up the mirror. “Hold your breath” was all he said before she was enveloped in a red liquid, and she realized as she took a big gulp of air that she had been placed into the cauldron. She suddenly felt very hot, and she was almost afraid that she wouldn’t be able to hold her breath much longer when she felt the same flipping feel she had felt when she had entered to mirror, and she closed her eyes. Once she felt that she had stilled again, she opened them. She was now sitting on the floor of Rumplestiltskin’s workshop, her head and neck having been reunited with her body. The Dark One walked around the work table to give her a hand up, and she smoothed out the dress he had provided for her to work in, the brilliant blue one that matched her eyes perfectly. But of course he hadn’t done that on purpose.

“Thank you, Rumplestiltskin. You seem to have a knack at saving me from dangerous situations.” She spoke as he reached into the still bubbling cauldron as if it was simply water, and retrieved the hand mirror. She thought back on the time that she had been captured by those three awful witches. “You’re my hero once again.” 

“It’s no matter, dearie. Trust me, I am no hero.” he replied solemnly. He put his impish mask back on and said sarcastically, a long scaly finger pointing closely at her face, “You’re no use to me unless you are cleaning, and I didn’t make a deal with you to be my maid for you to get entrapped in my possessions.”

Belle grabbed his finger midair and put it down. “Oh stop, I know that’s not true. You must care about me at least a little, Rumplestiltskin, otherwise you could just get another maid. And I’ll admit, I’d be rather jealous if that happened.” And without another word, she wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug, as she had done once in the forest, and sighed quietly before letting go. She gave him a wink and sauntered out of the room, leaving the infamous Dark One gaping in confusion. She may be a complex handful, but he couldn’t deny now that he had slowly fallen in love with her.


End file.
